


And Suddenly The World Seemed Changable

by artsyspikedhair



Series: And Things Change For Better And For Worse [1]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - America, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Asexual Character, Childhood, Feminist Themes, Gen, Trans Enjolras, Trans Male Character, Transphobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-01-01
Packaged: 2018-05-10 22:11:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5602834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artsyspikedhair/pseuds/artsyspikedhair
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Enjolras was a loner for most of his life. He lived for causes the way others lived to see their friends. But in high school, his world changes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Suddenly The World Seemed Changable

Enjolras was used to being alone. Sure, he had a few friends in elementary school. The only one he remembered well was Jehan. The two of them would trade clothes on picture day, so Enjolras would get the suit and Jehan would get to wear dresses. Enjolras' parents stupidly bought the pictures in the early years, thinking maybe this year Enjolras would learn that disobedience led to punishment. Enjolras never understood. He could where whatever he wanted most other days (admittedly those were usually pink shirts which he would edit in Sharpie to say "Don't Call Me Princess, but he also was allowed his strange fascination for green leather jackets and boys' pants he called breeches), but on picture day he was forced into a dress, his long hair styled in some way his mother called "darling", and when he did what he wanted anyway, he was punished. After a few years, Jehan moved to China, and Enjolras was left, from fifth grade to eighth, alone. 

But Enjolras was used to being alone. 

He lived for causes the way others lived to see their friends again. In fifth grade his parents allowed him to start buying his own clothes, so Enjolras researched what places sold clothes made in America and what places paid their workers fairly. He was determined not be giving money to a place that used exploitation. His parents aided his research, but they found it to be a bit "unrealistic, really, to expect to find a place that acts like a utopia and sells nice clothes for a growing young girl like you." That was a direct quote. Enjolras ignored his parents' insistence on just choosing a store based on the clothes it sold, and by the end of fifth grade, he had found a store that met his standards.

Enjolras did not give up when there was even the slightest chance of him succeeding. 

In sixth grade he began researching Communism. It started as an extra credit project for school, but Enjolras got slightly obsessed. He would research it all the time, began buying communist newspapers, and occasionally went to protests. Sixth grade was also the year Enjolras spent ignoring his body, buying oversize plaid shirts. All of his clothes came exclusively from the boys' section. His mother made snarky comments, and he would simply say "Clothing is just fabric and fabric has no gender. Besides, they feel good." Some of the kids in his math class accused him of being a lesbian. He fervently denied the accusations, saying he didn't like anybody like that, not boys or girls. But when the accusations stuck, he eventually stopped trying to tell them the truth. Sometimes, it's easier to let people believe what they want to believe, he figured. 

Enjolras eventually gave up on Communism, deciding that he could do the most amount of change from within the system. He discovered his middle school had a G.S.A, and though his parents, after finding out he had went to a meeting, refused to let him join, Enjolras got a pamphlet of information from it. He learned words for what he felt, and spent most of seventh and eighth grade being self-centered, buying binders behind his parents back and learning all he could about the LGBT community, now that he had a part in it. 

By the time high school came around, Enjolras had figured he would try coming out. The law stated that he was allowed to change his gender on the school records without his parents approval, so he scheduled an appointment with the principal and did just that. He changed his first name on the records as well, but figured if anyone asked he would go by his last name, since that was what most people called him anyway. 

High school is different than what Enjolras expected. Nobody makes any comments about his sudden change of name or pronouns, which is likely due to him being in higher classes than most of the kids he spent middle school with. But the most surprising thing is that he could easily find people with similar ambitions as himself. 

Two kids in his Honors math class was deep in an argument about abortion when Enjolras walked in. Enjolras picked a seat close to the two people, in hopes of maybe joining the conversation. The kid with brown eyes and spiky black hair was on the side of "People should have the right to choose whether or not they wish to give birth!" The other kid, with blue eyes and hair that was clearly dyed blond, was insisting that abortion was murder and trying to compare the situation to assisted suicide. Enjolras told the kid that abortion and assisted suicide were completely separate issues, and that the baby couldn't live outside of the parent's body anyway, so the child was basically a part of the parent's body, and therefore the parent could decide what to do with it. The kid then knew he would be fighting against two people with more sound logic than himself, and backed off. 

He glared at Enjolras, saying "What are you, some sort of feminazi?" Enjolras knew the kid thought he was a girl, even with his binder on. He decided this wasn't worth his time, and started a conversation with the kid who agreed with him, while the bully went to sit in the back after realizing he was getting no answer.

"So, anyway, I'm Enjolras. Who are you?" Enjolras said, holding out his hand like he had been taught to do when trying to make friends. 

"Combeferre. Thank you for agreeing with me, by the way. Don't listen to Mont. I only started talking to him because he had somehow decided I was cool, because all of his other friends are in the A.C.P. math class." 

"That makes sense." Enjolras said, and then the math teacher came in, apologizing for being late. 

Enjolras liked this new math teacher. He wasn't the best student, but he tried. Combeferre passed notes to him, writing about how he was looking forward to trigonometry, and who did Enjolras have for history? Enjolras discovered they had the same history teacher, Mr. La Marque. Combeferre was excited about this too, writing about how his friend Courfeyrac was in Mr. La Marque's class, and that Courfeyrac was a liberal was well, though he was a bit of a flirt and might give Enjolras a hard time. This led Enjolras to be unsure whether he was passing or not, because he hadn't said anything in class since attendance and he made the mistake of wearing one of his old, more feminine shirts. He had his binder on though, and Courfeyrac might be bi or pan. Enjolras tried to tell himself he was being ridiculous. 

Finally math class ended. Combeferre and Enjolras got lost on their way to history, but Mr. La Marque said he understood. It was the first day, after all. Enjolras was shocked to discover that Jehan was in his class. Jehan was wearing a gray dress with an orange belt, showing his fashion sense has not changed much since the fourth grade. Combeferre was leading Enjolras over to Jehan, because Jehan was sitting next to Courfeyrac. All of Enjolras' fears melted away when Jehan asked him his pronouns. Jehan still used he/him/his, and he identified as a cis guy, but he simply enjoyed wearing dresses. Courfeyrac used they/them/theirs. Combeferre used he/him/his, and didn't seem at all surprised when Enjolras did too, though Courfeyrac seemed a little shaken. 

Enjolras discovered he actually had people to sit with at lunch, and for the first time in his life, he was part of a group. The four of them talked about politics and class lists, and nobody brought up the past beyond what middle school they went to. Enjolras was, after all these years, not alone.


End file.
